Boisset to launch Beaujolais Nouveau in plastic bottles

French wine giant Boisset has announced that all Beaujolais Nouveau wines imported to the US this year will be shipped in plastic bottles.

The Burgundy producer said that the immediacy of the Beaujolais Nouveau launch, which happens every year in November, and the fact that the wine was airfreighted to countries such as the US, meant that PET or plastic bottles were a viable and environmentally-friendly alternative to glass.

‘It is critical that we consider whether we should still ship thousands of cases of wine in heavy bottles via air throughout the world in order for the wines to arrive on time for their annual release date in November,’ said Jean-Charles Boisset, president of Boisset Family Estates.

Boisset added that the company could ‘reduce fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions by more than half’ by using plastic bottles.

PET bottles, said Boisset, would reduce shipping weight by 42%, while PET packaging produces 50%-60% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than glass throughout its life cycle.

The company is also unveiling a locally sourced ‘California Nouveau’ wine, Fog Mountain, also in PET. It already sells its Mommesin Beaujolais Grande Reserve in aluminium bottles.